In many ways, last night’s game between Glasgow and the Sharks was about the champions of the United Rugby Championship against a host of champions from the Rugby Championship.
Sorry Scotland but only one team was going to prevail on that score;
The Sharks, led by brutal enforcer Eben Etzebeth, won 28-24 and the result confirms how good the Durbanites can be when they have their Springboks.
The Sharks lost their previous game to Benetton at the end of a gruelling six weeks on the roads that included away Currie Cup matches, and coach John Plumtree had no hesitation in bringing back his Boks en masse for this home game against the champions.
The big question was how quickly the Sharks could gel given that Plumtree was making ten changes but he backed his instinct and the incoming Boks picked up on the URC platform where they had excelled in the Rugby Championship.
Players of the quality of Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Makazole Mapimpi, Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams and Aphelele Fassi have no problem in getting back on the collective bike whether they are on in green and gold or black and white.
A big selection for Plumtree was picking flyhalf Jordan Hendriske alongside his brother Jaden, and the younger Hendrikse had an exceptional game in his opportunity to show he can play better than Siya Masuku.
The latter was a stand-out performer for the Sharks last season but has been a touch flat in the Sharks’ opening three matches on the URC and Plumtree’s gut feel to give Jordan a shot at 10 after three games at 15 worked splendidly.
Jordan and Jaden worked well in tandem and the pair could well be the way forward for the Sharks in the URC.
Plumtree said: “It was a nervous week for us as we tried to blend Boks coming back with some guys who have had a long time on the road.
“Eben brought the guys together and we showed some glimpses of what we can do, going forward. Glasgow is a champion side and look at how they came back at the end.”
The defiant Glaswegians scored two late tries to earn two bonus points that could prove crucial later in the tournament.
“There is only so much we can control throughout a season but when we have our best players, we show what we are capable of,” Plumtree said,
Ten minutes into the game Jordan Hendrikse kicked the first points thanks to a scrum penalty.
On 20 minutes, scrumhalf George Horne scored from a counter-attack that beat the Sharks’ rush defence.
On the half-hour mark, the Sharks showed how good they can be when Kolisi scored off the back of a maul after some exceptional phase play.
Two minutes later, Fassi caught the world fast asleep when he took a quick tap near the Glasgow line for the softest of tries.
Once more Glasgow unpicked the Sharks defence with swift inter-passing sparked by left wing Kyle Rowe. The Sharks had grinded hard for their points but the Warriors earned theirs slickly and efficiently.
In the 65th Glasgow forwards Gregor Brown was sin-binned for a head-high tackle on Phepsi Buthelezi and Hendrikse kicked his team into a 21-12 lead with 15 to go.
The Sharks were over the hill and far away when Grant Williams cashed in a Makazole Mapimp Mapimpi grubber through the defence to take the game away from Glasgow at 28-12.
Scorers
Sharks — Tries: Siya Kolisi, Aphelele Fassi, Grant Williams. Penalties: Jordan Hendrikse (3). Conversions: Jordan Hendrikse (2).
Glasgow — Tries: George Horne (2), Rory Darge, Johnny Matthew. Conversions: Horne (2).